TMC registers massive victory in civic polls, Opposition cries foul

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress juggernaut in West Bengal continued with the party registering a landslide victory in the civic polls on Saturday.

The Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool won overwhelmingly in all the three municipal bodies – Bidhannagar in North 24 Parganas district, Asansol in Burdwan district and Bally in Howrah district.

The Trinamool bagged 37 of the 41 wards in Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and annihilated the opposition in the 16 wards of the erstwhile Bally municipality where an election was necessitated after the civic body was amalgamated with the Howrah Municipal Corporation.

In the Asansol Municipal Corporation, the candidates from the ruling party have either won or are leading with wide margins in at least 70 of the 106 wards.

The Left Front managed just 16 while the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged eight wards. The Congress emerged victorious in just three.

At Bidhannagar, the Communist Party of India-Marxist led Left Front and the Congress won two wards each. Among the heavyweights to lose from here was veteran Marxist and former state minister Asim Dasgupta.

“This is not a reflection of the people mandate rather an evidence of the electoral malpractices indulged in by the ruling party,” Dasgupta told reporters.

The opposition had alleged violence and rampant rigging in the municipal polls, and demanded re-elections in all the wards of the three civic bodies.

There was high drama as State Election Commissioner (SEC) SR Upadhyay deferred the vote count slated for October 7 and then put in his papers on Tuesday allegedly succumbing to pressure from political parties.

The state government appointed transport secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay as the interim commissioner, who ordered re-poll on October 9 in 11 booths; 9 in Bidhannagar and two in Asansol.

Angry opposition parties boycotted the re-polling.

A case was also filed challenging Bandopadhyay’s appointment, and the Calcutta High Court on Friday directed that all steps initiated by the SEC under the new interim commissioner would be subject to the court’s final verdict on the writ petition, but turned down a plea to give any interim stay.

Justice Dipankar Datta sought affidavits from the West Bengal government and the SEC backing their observations by November 17. The petitioner Amitava Majumdar was directed to file the affidavit in opposition by November 19.

November 23 has been fixed as the next day of hearing.

“Trinamool may have won the polls but it has been a moral defeat for them. It’s not humans, rather thousands of ghosts cast votes for the Trinamool. It’s a disgrace,” said Leader of Opposition and CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra.

New Delhi, September 25, 2017: The youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came out to protest against the University and former vice president Hamid Ansari who lately attended an event in Kozhikode held by Delhi Institute of objective studies.

The event was co-organised by National Women’s Front (NWF), the women’s wing of the radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India to mark the international conference on “the role of women to make a humane society”. It has also been alleged that an Islamic fundamentalist organization, Popular Front of India (PFI) was also part of the organizing committee.

According to the reports, the criminal of radical outfit PFI was accused of cutting the hands of Professor Joseph for being offensive to the Islamic Prophet Mohammad. It has also been accused of accusing National Investigative Agency over controversial ‘Love Jihad’ cases.

The university however claim that they have received letters from certain organizations, though not being part of the event but were collaborating in it.

Bihar, July 29, 2017:“Laluji, I beg your forgiveness, but after running the government for 20 months, I cannot do it any longer. I am going to quit,” the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told his ally.

Nitish Kumar on Thursday took oath as Bihar CM for the 6th time, marking a historic transition of the state from a Grand Alliance government to an NDA regime. He resigned as Bihar Chief Minister mentioning political differences with the former ally, Lalu Prasad Yadav led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), over corruption charges against the RJD leader’s son Tejashwi Yadav.

Soaring with 131 votes, Nitish Kumar is back with power in Bihar. ‘Secularism can’t mask corruption,” said the Chief Minister in the Bihar Assembly with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi by his side, reported Zee Media Bureau.

Nitish added, “These are arrogant people. Political parties get a mandate in elections to serve the people. The people are fed-up”.

Alleging corruption charges against Lalu Prasad Yadav son, Tejashwi Yadav, Nitish proffered resignation to Tejashwi Yadav and terminated the 20-month-old grand alliance (mahagathbandhan) between JD(U) and RJD. Just within some time, JD (U) formed a new alliance with old ally BJP and Nitish headed back to the office, claiming support of 132 MLAs in a letter to Bihar governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

With Lalu as the main convener of the opposition, the grand alliance becomes an exercise in futility.https://t.co/BidJP6NjGZ

In 2013, Nitish had terminated his 17-year coalition with the BJP over the party’s decision to name Narendra Modi its Prime Ministerial candidate.

Nitish’s decision to partner with BJP has not been taken up in good spirits by other party members. MP Ali Anwar brazenly expressed his dissatisfaction while JD (U) stalwart Sharad Pawar is reportedly provoked by the new development.

Today morning, Nitish moved the confidence motion to prove the majority of his new government amid harsh attacks from various counters. In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, 131 legislators voted in favour of the new alliance and 108 were against it.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav argued that Nitish Kumar should have shown guts and dismissed him rather than joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA now operates in 18 states, kicking Congress out of the national equation. This, in turn, will have some significant bearing upcoming state elections and 2019 Lok Sabha election.

New Delhi, April 11, 2017: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed satisfaction on a successful budget session, which he said had been “very meaningful and useful”, and advised BJP MPs to work like Lord Hanuman to publicise the government’s achievements.

Addressing Bharatiya Janata Party MPs here, Modi told them not to wait for his instructions before carrying out government work among the people.

“When Lakshman went into coma, Hanumanji went to find a cure without any prodding. Similarly, MPs must go ahead without waiting for instructions. They need to carry forward the government’s work among the masses,” a BJP MP who attended the meeting quoted Modi as saying.

Modi’s remarks came after he greeted people and MPs on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.

Modi urged the MPs to get inspiration from Hanuman.

“Take inspiration from Hanuman. He never took anything from anyone but he kept giving. You also need to give to people like him,” Modi said.

Asking MPs to go their parliamentary constituencies, Modi they too needed to establish their own identity despite banking on him (Modi).

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